Welcome Back! In case you missed it this week I've been talking about the mistakes that people commonly make in a job search. On Monday I gave the first five. You can read them here:
Below are parts 6 – 10. Enjoy!!!
6. Uses Poor Etiquette When Following Up
This is one that really trips people up. Here is the deal. When a company tells you that they will be in touch by a certain date and you don’t’ hear from them you can follow up. However, it is important that you follow up appropriately. It is OK to make one phone call and follow up with an email. If you haven’t heard back in 48 – 72 hours it is OK to send one more email. However, if you do any more than this you will run the risk of appearing desperate or too aggressive. This is the hardest thing to do but you need to just let it go. The other thing you should be aware of is how to leave a voice mail. People are busy. When you leave a voicemail you need to leave three things:
- Your name
- Your number
- Why you called – less than two sentences
If your voicemails become one sided conversations they will get deleted.
7. Unrealistic Salary Expectations
Salary is an issue that really gets people worked up. In our minds our salary is a validation of our own self worth and signifies how other people value you. The problem is that only in a vacuum is your salary a true estimation of your worth. There are so many other factors that go into a salary including the economy, the economics of the company and the salaries of others in your position. The truth of the matter is that your salary only has a little bit to do with you. However, because we are in an ego-centric world we make it all about us and have expectations that don’t match with reality. Here is the hard truth. Generally you can expect a 5 %- 10% salary increase as an incentive for leaving a job in a good economy. I’ve seen people get more than this and I’ve seen people get less but I’ve found that this is pretty realistic. However, I hear many people ask for much more based on some silly premises. Some of the best are:
- I haven’t had a raise for three years so I should be making this – WRONG – anyone that uses this premise right now looks pretty stupid. We just came out of the worst recession in 60 years. Not getting a raise in three years does not entitle you to some form of back pay for your hardship in your next job. It just means that you are like every other person lucky enough to keep their job through the recession.
- I just got my MBA or other professional degree – I should get $20K more a year now – WRONG AGAIN – This is another flawed premise. I think that schools actively recruit people for professional degrees based on the promise of increased earnings. They often float out how people with MBA’s make X% more than others. What they don’t share is that this percentage is over the lifetime of a career not immediate. Your MBA is not some magical salary key – it is a set of skills that will help you excel in the long run. So if you are only taking the degree to get more money and not to develop yourself you have a big problem.
- I’m really underpaid and I think I’m worth more – sorry I don’t have a snarky comment here – we all feel this way. Make sure that you have some concrete reasons why you deserve more money. Starting out with “I think” is never a convincing argument.
For more on salaries check out this article that I wrote last year:
8. Act Arrogant or Uninterested
When you are interviewing you need to act confident. There is no doubt about this. However, many people confuse confidence with arrogance or disinterest. Confident people talk about why they would be a good for a position and are excited to do so. Arrogant people expect someone to tell them why they are great and acknowledge how good they are. I don’t want to go to in depth here. Just remember this key piece of wisdom. Companies hire people that want to be a part of their organization – in order to get hired you need to act like you want it.
9. Didn’t Dress to Impress
I wrote about this pretty in-depth last week but it is so important that I thought I’d mention it again. How you dress for an interview shows what you thin about the opportunity and the company. If you wear a suit you show respect and it signifies that you feel that this meeting is important. Anything less than that suggests that either:
- The interview isn’t important
- You don’t understand social graces and don’t know what is expected of you
- You think that you are better than the job
Don’t let what you wear say negative things about you.
10. Lie or Misrepresent Themselves on Resume or Application
This is so obvious that I’m sure many of you think it is silly to bring it up. I wish… Here’s the deal, lying on your resume can and will come back to haunt you. I’m sure many of you remember the high profile examples of this like George O’Leary who was hired to be the head coach of Notre Dame (for you non-sports people this is one of the true dream jobs – or at least it was ten years ago) only to be fired after it was discovered that he lied about his education among other things on his resume. However, blatant lies are the only thing that gets you in trouble. Little white lies can hurt as well. Some of the little white lies I see are:
- Omitting a job
- Making it appear that you still work for your most recent employer by not putting an end date on it
- Changing your job title
Doing these little things can and will hurt you in the long run.
So there you go! Let me know if you think I’m off base or if you have any things that I missed. Have a great week and don’t forget to leave comments or email me at sthompson@insurance-csg.com.
Check out some of my recent articles on the blog here:
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